Rebels quick hits:

UNLV football in much better APR position than a year ago

Football’s multiyear score is on the rise while six programs posted perfect single-year marks

Image

L.E. Baskow

Tony Sanchez fist bumps with UNLV athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy after he is announced as the new UNLV football team head coach in the Stan Fulton Building ballroom on Thursday, December 11, 2014.

Wed, May 27, 2015 (2:45 p.m.)

A year after its initial score had the Rebels banned from the postseason, UNLV’s football program brought its multiyear Academic Progress Rate score to the second-highest point since the APR was instituted in 2003, according to the NCAA.

Six UNLV programs posted single-year perfect scores (1,000), while football notched a 953, bringing its four-year score to 937. The NCAA requires all programs to post a multiyear score of at least 930 to avoid punishments, including loss of scholarships and a ban from postseason play.

Last year, UNLV football’s initial score was 925, and for several months it operated as if it would be banned from postseason play, with a couple of seniors transferring and the team adding a 13th game at Houston. However, several people within the athletics department had been working with the NCAA to find additional points the Rebels felt they deserved and the result was a 930, lifting the penalties.

That didn’t end up mattering for the 2014 season, as Bobby Hauck won two games for the fourth time in five years before resigning. The additional points help the rolling four-year average, though, and the program’s current 937 trails only the 947 UNLV had from 2009-11.

The six sports that posted perfect scores — the most recent results are for the 2013-14 academic calendar, see all results here — were men’s and women’s swimming, volleyball, softball, women’s tennis and women’s golf, which also now has a perfect multiyear score as well. The women’s golf program, which finished 16th at last weekend’s national championship, received the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for ranking in the top 10 percent of all programs in its sport.

"We are pleased with the progress we are making academically, and are also very proud of our six programs that earned perfect APR marks and another setting a program high," UNLV Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said in a statement. "We are always striving to improve, but it is clear that there is a strong commitment by our student-athletes, coaches and academic support staff to the academic success of our programs."

The baseball program set a new single-year program high with a 980 and after posting a single-year score of 955, men’s basketball’s multiyear score is now 948, which is down from scores in the 960s the past four years. The APR scores are calculated by awarding one point to athletes for remaining eligible and another for making the appropriate progress toward a degree, then weighting those results on a scale of 1,000.

Finkelstein collects another honor

In addition to helping her team post its fourth-straight perfect APR score, UNLV senior golfer Dana Finkelstein was named a first-team All-American this week.

Finkelstein, who finished 18th at last weekend’s NCAA Championship, was one of 11 golfers named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s All-American team on Tuesday. She’s the second Rebel to ever receive the honor. Finkelstein finishes her UNLV career as the winningest player in program history, with five individual wins while collecting three straight Mountain West Player of the Year awards.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

Back to top

SHARE

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy